Where are you going?

Sometime last year I was watching Greg Howlett’s live in Charleston Album. (FYI, Greg Howlett is a Christian Concert pianist-for all you lovers of instrumental worship, you need to get you his music) Somewhere in the middle of the performance, he stopped to speak. He told a story of how he’d gotten lost as he walked around Charleston and had to ask for direction. He asked for directions to the post office (since from the post office he could get the bearing of where he wanted to go to), from a young boy (I think aged 10-I can’t remember). He then informed the boy of the concert he was going to have that evening and invited the boy to attend. The boy asked why he should attend the concert, and Greg told him that at the concert, he’d tell the boy how to get to heaven. The boy responded “Why would I get directions to heaven from a guy who can’t find his way to the post office?” I thought twaz really funny, and so did the audience, since they burst out laughing as soon as he finished narrating his story.

Every one of us has been called into ministry, but not all of us are aware of that fact, plus there’s been a misconception about what ministry is all about. People for a very long time, have been under the impression that ministry is limited to serving in church and is only for those called to be Apostles, prophets, Teachers, Pastors and Evangelists; but this is just one area. We’ve all been called to function (represent God) in any of the areas below.

That is:

ü  Science, Technology and education

ü  Arts, Media and entertainment

ü  Sports

ü  Family

ü  Industry, Finance and commerce

ü  Government and military and finally

ü  Life givers (The category under which the apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors and evangelist fall, as well as doctors, pharmacists, herbalists etc)

Some call them the seven mountains; others call them the seven Nations. I will not talk much about them now, but if you wish to learn more about them in depth go to www.thejoshuagenerationtrust.org then click on resources and get the ‘7 professional nations’ eBook, by Rev. Niyi Morakinyo. And if you’ll be in Nairobi in March, you can also make your way to the All Saints Cathedral auditorium, on 8^th March 2014, from 2pm, where the Joshua generation ministry will be hosting the Saints and the Kingdom convention. More on these mountains/nations and your role in them, will be taught here.

So I was saying, ministry, is not limited to church. Your calling/purpose/ministry is where God has placed you within any of the areas mentioned above. Whether you are a doctor, a hairdresser, an artist, a business person or a housewife; where God has placed you is your area of ministry- it is where you are to represent Christ. You need to be aware of where God has placed you and stop trying to fit into other people’s calling. Don’t try pursuing what you have no gracing for, just coz it is working for someone else. You may do well (succeed) in man’s eyes, but in God’s, you’ve missed it, coz that’s not what He created you to be and do.

So step one is to find out where it is that God wants you to serve Him, then find out how. The only way to find out the where and how, is through spending time with God; in studying and meditating on His word, in prayer, in loving on Him in praise and worship, in fasting and in allowing Him to lead you to His ordained men and women, who’ll guide you. For instance in the month of March we’ll be having teachings on Purpose and Power at the New Breed Chapel, on Kiambu rd, at Evergreen royal gardenia every Sunday from 10am, under the leadership of Rev Erick and Pst. Vicky Mwangi. Bring a friend.

It is in building an intimate relationship with God that He also gives you direction on how to advance/grow in that area He has placed you; be it by going back to school, reading books or working under someone. Some of us after discovering our area of calling want to run and do it before seeking wisdom from God on the whole picture and on the steps we should take.

In counseling psychology we say; you can only take your client as far as you yourself have gone. Like with the small boy, you’ll have no confidence being led by someone who has no bearing of where he is going. It is God’s intention that we function exactly like Him, wherever He places us, that is why we need to get a revelation from Him as to where He is taking us, what He wants to do through us and how to use what He has placed within us to fulfill His will. You can only take people as far as you’ve gone. You can only handle God’s purpose for you, to the degree of depth you’ve grown in Him and growth is not a one off event, but an ongoing process.

If Greg Howlett had a map, he probably wouldn’t have had to ask for direction. He also wouldn’t necessarily need to go to the post office first in order to get a bearing of where he wanted to go, he’d have just followed the directions on the map, to his desired location.

I remember when my sister and I visited Hamburg, in Germany. It was the first time for both of us hence the first thing we did after getting off the train from Berlin was to look for the city map in order to figure out where we wanted to go. The map was in German and I couldn’t tell left from right since I’m not conversant with the language, I had to totally rely on my sister for direction since she knows the language.

Like I mentioned in my blog ‘Where are you’, the bible is our map. Most times we read the bible and are clueless as to what God is speaking to us through what we’ve read. The words on the bible become like the map I was looking at in Hamburg, you can read but it means nothing since you don’t understand. That’s why we are also privileged to have an internal GPS (The Holy Spirit), who guides us through the map since He is well conversant with it (John 16:13-15). You cannot direct people, in the area God had placed you, if you have no idea where you are going, and if you are not conversant with the map; and if you have no relationship with your GPS (the Holy Spirit), you can’t figure out where you need to go.  Do you know where you’re going? (what God has called you to be/your purpose/ministry)